If you watched Mad Men this past Sunday night, one of two things might have happened once the show ended:
1. You wondered what the hell was up with Don Draper’s dream.
-or-
2. You watched AMC’s sneak peek of The Pitch.
Photo courtesy of AMC TV
Frankly, both happened to me, but I’d like to focus on the latter. The Pitch is one reality show program worth the attention. The concept is simple: two rival design agencies compete to earn a marketing contract with a certain company. It’s almost like The Apprentice, minus all the back-stabbing drama and Donald Trump. And unlike most reality shows, there’s no need to catch up if you miss an episode, but rather, each installment contains a different pair of studios, and therefore plots stay fresh every week. Within each singular episode, viewers are bounced back and forth between agencies, watching designers brainstorm, execute, and pitch their ideas in the hopes that their hard work becomes ultimately green-lit.
We get to see first hand what design studios have to go through in order to land clientele. There’s a humanizing factor involved too, as one becomes enveloped and almost emotionally invested with both sides, and frankly, it’s hard to align myself with a specific studio. On the flip side, we also get to experience several instances of head shaking and face-palming moments, almost deterring viewership (and let’s face it, certain ideas sound a lot better in one’s head than in actuality), so I can sympathize with the struggles of both the higher ups and underlings. Sunday’s episode focused on McKinney and WDCW, two agencies with a high reputation in the marketing world. The prized company up for grabs? Subway, specifically how to market their breakfast products to the 18 to 24 demographic. Both agencies made convincing pitches, but in the long run, (SPOILER ALERT!!!) it was McKinney’s free style rap that overtook WDCW’s zAMbie approach.
The season premiere of The Pitch is on Monday, April 30 9/8c on AMC, however you can still watch the sneak peek episode off their website. Until then, I’ll continue to wrap my head around Don Draper’s Wayne Brady-esque dream sequence.
